Keppel Celebrates 45 Years

In commemoration of its 45th Anniversary, themed “Shaping the Future”, Keppel Corporation commits $12 million to National Art Gallery, Singapore in support of its center for art education, to be named Keppel Center for Art Education.

Committed to shaping the future, Keppel Corporation presented, as a gift to children of Singapore, the commitment of $12 million to National Art Gallery for its center for art education, which will be named Keppel Center for Art Education.

President Tony Tan witnessed the presentation of the cheque by Dr Lee Boon Yang, Chairman of Keppel Corporation and Mr Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corporation to Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, Chairman of the National Art Gallery and Ms Chong Siak Ching, CEO of the National Art Gallery at Keppel Corporation's 45th Anniversary Gala Dinner.

The Keppel Center for Art Education, an integral part of the National Art Gallery,will be the first dedicated art education facility in Singapore and the region. It is projected to engage 250,000 children, youths and families per year when it opens in 2015.

The anniversary celebrations marked a significant milestone in Keppel's growth journey from a small ship repair yard into a world-class solutions provider for the offshore and marine, sustainable environment and urban living industries.

Keppel was listed as a shipyard on the Stock Exchange of Singapore in 1980 and its market capitalisation was $396 million. Today, its market capitalisation has grown to almost $19 billion. The company's full year revenue and net profit have risen from about $723 million and $87 million in 1981 to $13.9 billion and $2.2 billion or $1.9 billion respectively (before revaluation, major impairment and divestments) in 2012.

In his speech at the gala event, Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corporation, said, "In our businesses, we had many ups and downs especially in the offshore and marine and property cycles and we had to make some difficult decisions - restructuring, write-downs and divestments. Through them all, we have always been careful about employee and shareholder interests and mindful of our commitment to create and grow value. We have ventured beyond Singapore's shores since the early days and invested in new markets, like the US, Azerbaijan, Brazil and China - which were not easy. In so doing, we have developed and executed our Near Market, Near Customer strategy for the offshore and marine business. "Today, we have more than 40,000 Keppelites working together in 30 countries worldwide, writing the next chapters of the Keppel story. Moving ahead, Keppel will ride on the sustainable urbanisation trend in Asia and elsewhere to provide solutions to our industry partners."

The Gala event held at the Shangri-La Hotel was attended by about 700 eminent guests including several ambassadors and Singapore ministers - Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong; Ms Grace Fu, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources & Foreign Affairs as well as Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Keppel's key customers, business associates and industry partners